Technical Field
The present disclosure technically relates to antenna systems and methods. Particularly, the present disclosure technically relates to phased array antenna systems and methods.
Description of Related Art
In the related art, current teleoperated vehicles, e.g., robots, traverse over various and varying terrain, which greatly affects the robot's movements, e.g., adversely affecting the robot's yaw, pitch, and roll. Further, as the size of a teleoperated vehicle decreases, the more severe this problem becomes. Although utilizing standard low-gain antennas in the related art meets the requisite field-of-view (FOV), standard low-gain antennas greatly reduce the range of the teleoperated vehicle, especially in relation to “man portable” robots. Hence, the need for a continuous FOV has necessitated the use of low-gain omnidirectional antennas. Much research has been performed in the related art for increasing the communication range of teleoperated vehicles, but such related art research has merely focused on improvements to a base station antenna, radio coding methods, and utilizing radio nodes.
In the related art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,803, entitled “Electronically Steered Phased Array Radar Antenna,” issued on Jun. 5, 1990, discloses an electronically steered phased array antenna system. The system includes a phased array radar antenna having a microwave phased shifter for inserting a predetermined amount of path delay into each of the radiated elements of the antenna. The system also includes a beam steering controller connected to, and adapted to control, the microwave phase shifter according to predetermined parameters relating to the antenna. An electronically erasable programmable read only memory device is disposed on the antenna itself for storing the predetermined parameters relating to the antenna. The memory device is connected to the controller and, by inputting data into the memory of the controller, the controller is converted from a generic device to a dedicated controller for the given antenna. The memory device can be reprogrammed without removal from the antenna for changing the antenna configuration data.
In the related art, U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,270, entitled “Phased Array Antenna,” issued on Apr. 22, 1997, discloses a phased array antenna system that compensates for the effects of antenna flexure, vibration, and movement, whereby these effects are negated by introducing an appropriate phase or time delay into the signals being radiated from, and received by, the discrete antenna elements comprising the phased array antenna. This compensation eliminates the need for massive rigid back structures to maintain antenna rigidity.
In the related art, techniques are proposed for increasing the communication range of teleoperated vehicles, but such related art research has merely focused on improvements to a base station antenna, radio coding methods, and utilizing radio nodes. Therefore, a need exists in the related art for the development of systems and methods for increasing a communication range of a teleoperated vehicle that is compatible, retrofittable, and operable in relation to the teleoperated vehicle itself.